Dream Warrior: His Savage Kiss

by Bobbi Smith

  The two men laughed in vicious triumph.

  In spite of his pain, when Silver Wolf heard them talking about Little Snow, he tried to focus on what they were saying. It tortured him to discover they'd told Cari he'd killed James. He wondered if what they were saying was true. Had she really believed them? The possibility filled him with even greater pain than his physical agony.

  Morgan holstered his handgun, but pulled his rifle out of its sheath. He leaned toward Silver Wolf and prodded him in the ribs with it. "I'm going to be right behind you. I'm going to be watching your every move. You do anything, anything at all, and you're a dead man. Hear me?"

  Their gazes met, and Silver Wolf saw pure hatred in the white man's cold blue eyes. He nodded and wondered if he was going to live long enough to make it into town.

  The following morning, Elizabeth and Cari joined Ben in the parlor.

  "I know this isn't a happy time, but it is appropriate that we read James's will now," Ben said solemnly as they all sat down.

  Elliot was standing in the doorway, and Ben cast a questioning glance in his direction.

  "I'll wait in the other room," Elliot offered.

  Elizabeth hurried to invite him to remain. "No. Please stay, Elliot. You've been through so much with us already. There's no reason for you to be excluded now. Please."

  He nodded solemnly and went to sit with them as they waited for Ben to begin.

  Ben opened the sealed envelope and took out the document he'd drawn up for James. He paused a moment, thinking of the day when they'd gone over the changes, of how happy James had been because Elizabeth and Cari were coming home, and of how much he'd been looking forward to the future. A great sadness weighed upon him as he turned his attention to the will. When James had drawn it up, he could never have known that these would have been the circumstances under which it would be revealed. Ben was filled with a terrible sense of dread as he began to read.

  " 'I, James McCord, being of sound mind and body, do hereby leave one-half of my ranch to my wife, Elizabeth McCord. I also leave my wife all of my other worldly goods. The other one-half of the Circle M is left to Daniel Marshall . . . ' " He got no further.

  "What?" Cari gasped in astonishment.

  All the color drained from Elizabeth's face as she stared at Ben. "Read that again," she commanded tersely.

  "The other half of the Circle M is left to Daniel Marshall. He is a close and trusted friend, and this share of the ranch is a small recompense for saving my daughter's life many years ago."

  "I don't believe this!" Elizabeth whispered tightly.

  Ben's tone was serious. "There's more, if you'd like me to go on."

  She gave a curt nod.

  " 'If, in the event of my death, my wife chooses not to remain on the Circle M, her half shall pass to my daughter, Cari, who, I hope, will stay on the ranch and run it with Daniel.' "

  "Ben, you can't be serious," Elliot remarked, stunned by this disclosure.

  Ben handed him James's copy of the will. Elliot perused it, noting the initials and signature at the bottom. He showed it to Elizabeth and to Cari before handing it back to Ben.

  "James was very serious about this arrangement. As I told you last night, Elliot, they were very close. He always felt as if he owed Daniel a great debt for rescuing Cari and I guess this was his way to repay it. He also felt that Elizabeth and Cari would need a man to help run the Circle M and Daniel was the one he trusted the most."

  Elizabeth started to laugh hysterically, and Cari, Ben, and Elliot all looked at her, surprised. Laughter was the last thing they'd expected from her—rage, heartbreak, disappointment, maybe, but never laughter.

  "Mother . . ." Cari addressed cautiously, not knowing how to deal with her strange mood.

  "Don't you see how terribly ironic this is?" she asked as she gave another high-pitched laugh. "Silver Wolf's a fool! He's a complete and utter fool!"

  "What are you talking about?" Cari asked, not following her reasoning.

  "He could have had everything but he got greedy. Now, James is dead and he's lost it all."

  "Daniel did not kill James," Ben told them adamantly.

  "That's not what the sheriff says!" Elizabeth pinned him with a condemning glare.

  "He's not guilty. I don't know who did it, but I know it wasn't Daniel."

  "Are you trying to convince us or yourself, Ben?" Elizabeth charged. Then, her calm somewhat restored, she stood and started from the room. She was in no mood to talk to anyone. "If you'll excuse me?"

  When she'd gone, Elliot left, too. Cari sat with Ben.

  "Your mother is convinced Daniel's guilty. What about you, Cari? What do you think?" Ben knew how Daniel felt about Cari. She was the love of his life, but Saturday night something terrible had happened between them.

  "Four days ago, I would never have believed any of this, but . . . there's so much proof that he did it, and now this will . . ." She paused. "When the people in town hear that my father left half of the ranch to Silver Wolf, it's going to give them one more reason to suspect him."

  "You didn't answer my question, Cari." Ben captured her eyes with his, trying to read the secrets she held within her.

  Cari wanted to think Silver Wolf was innocent, but she knew how important his medicine bag was to him. "I don't know," she finally answered hesitantly.

  "If you love him, you'll believe in him. He didn't know about this inheritance. Your father made certain the provision in the will was kept secret."

  Her expression was tortured. "But he never went anywhere without his medicine bag, and they found it with my father! How can I forget that? He had to have been there, and if he was . . ."

  "I don't know how the pouch ended up there. All I do know is that . . ." Ben was about to say more when they heard one of the ranch hands yelling outside.

  Cari jumped to her feet and ran out on the porch. She saw the sheriff and his posse riding toward the house. Ben, Elliot, and Elizabeth came out, too, to see what the excitement was all about.

  "Looks like they found him, Miss Cari!" Hank was shouting jubilantly.

  The sheriff said something to his men and left them a short distance away from the house as he rode up to speak to the family.

  "Afternoon," Sheriff Dixon greeted them with a tip of his hat as he reined in before them. "Mrs. McCord, I just wanted to let you know that we found Marshall." He motioned back toward the posse. "We're taking him in now."

  "Thank you," Elizabeth said, relieved. "Is there anything you need us to do?"

  "No, ma'am. I'll be in touch."

  "I'd like to speak with Daniel, Sheriff Dixon," Ben said with terse authority.

  "I don't think he's in much of a mood to talk right now," the sheriff answered, wanting to discourage him.

  Ben frowned and started toward the posse.

  Cari had tried to stay back with her mother and Elliot, but when Ben went to Silver Wolf, she knew she had to go to him, too.

  "Cari! Stay here!" Elizabeth ordered. "He's a killer! He murdered your father! Keep away from him!"

  She knew all the evidence agreed with her mother, but logic wasn't governing her actions. She ignored her command, and hurried after Ben.

  Ben reached the posse and forced his way through the crowd of riders to reach his friend. When he saw Daniel sitting on his horse, his shoulders slumped, his face battered, he stopped. For a moment, he could only stare at him.

  "Daniel . . ." He said his friend's name in a pained voice, knowing just by looking at him what he'd suffered at the posse's hands.

  Cari reached the posse just as Ben did, and when she saw Silver Wolf for the first time, she froze in place.

  "Silver Wolf . . ." She gasped his name out loud, unable to stop herself. Her heart thudded painfully in her breast at the sight of him sitting on Wild One surrounded by the band of armed and leering men. His face was bruised and bloodied, almost to the point of being beyond recognition. He was gagged, and his hands were bound tightly behind his back. The con
dition of his bloodstained clothes testified to the struggle he'd put up resisting the men who'd come after him. One of the deputies was holding Wild One's reins, so Silver Wolf could not possibly escape, while another pointed a rifle at him. He was their prisoner, totally and completely in their control, and, as such, he was at their mercy.

  A part of her wanted to run to him and throw her arms around him and gently tend his wounds, but terrible, doubting questions pounded at her. Why had they beaten him? Was it because he'd tried to run from them because he was guilty? Had he been so desperate to flee that they'd been forced to beat him into submission?

  The sound of her voice penetrated the pain-drugged numbness that had settled over Silver Wolf as he'd suffered the ride back toward town. Cari. . . . He raised his head for the first time and looked for her in the blur of faces surrounding him. His heart was dying to see her, he needed to know she was there and that she was all right. He needed to see her face and know that she didn't believe any of the lies they'd told her. He needed her . . .

  Across the distance that separated them, their eyes met. For just an instant, his gaze, stormy gray now and pain-filled, searched hers, looking for, aching for, some indication that the love they'd shared had been real, that she believed and trusted in him. What he saw in her expression, the look of horror and doubt, filled him with a different, terrible kind of agony. He looked away, unable to bear what he thought was her lack of faith in him.

  "Daniel!" Ben jarred himself to action, striding forward to grab Wild One's bridle as he turned on the two deputies. "What in hell is the meaning of this? What did you do to him?"

  "He was trying to escape. When we caught him, he resisted arrest, so we subdued him. He's just lucky we didn't shoot him," Morgan told Ben with smug superiority.

  "Untie his gag. I want to talk to him."

  "Can't do that unless the sheriff says so," the deputy refused.

  Sheriff Dixon rejoined the posse. "You have a problem, Douglas?"

  "I want to talk to Daniel. Ungag him."

  "Sorry, but he's nice and quiet right now, and I want him to stay that way until I get him back to town and in a nice safe jail cell."

  "You've made a bad mistake, Sheriff. This man is innocent."

  "That's up to the court to decide. Now, I'd appreciate it if you'd move away from our prisoner. We're taking him in to stand trial for the murder of James McCord."

  Elizabeth had come out to the posse with Elliot, and, at the sheriff's words, she began to cry. Cari heard her distress and went to her. When she glanced up again, she was shocked to find Silver Wolf's eyes upon her. His expression this time was emotionless, and his eyes were a flat, shining silver that appeared cold and lifeless. For that one moment, Cari could almost believe he was a killer. She shivered as she looked away from him.

  Elliot saw how upset she was, and he put his arm around her and drew her to his side protectively. Silver Wolf saw his move, but his expression didn't change.

  "I'm riding to town with you, Sheriff Dixon. I want to make sure my client is protected on the trip," Ben declared.

  "Marshall's very well protected," Morgan jeered.

  "And I intend to make sure he stays that way!" Ben snarled, more than ready to even the score with the cruel deputy if he could get the chance.

  "We'll give you five minutes to get ready, Douglas, and that's all. The whole town is screaming for justice, and I intend to see it done just as fast as I can."

  "I don't think I need to remind you, Sheriff, that a man is innocent until proven guilty."

  "If he's so damned innocent, why did he run?" Collins taunted.

  "I'm not so sure he did run," Ben replied, turning an accusing gaze on him.

  Ben was livid as he bid Elizabeth, Cari, and Elliot a hurried good-bye. Within minutes, his horse was saddled and he was ready to ride.

  Cari watched them leave. As they disappeared in the distance, her heart cried out in anguish. Though she was with her mother and Elliot, she suddenly felt very alone.

  When the posse reached town, they rode straight for the jail. Ben dismounted, intending to help Daniel inside, but the deputies refused to let him near his friend.

  "We'll handle this," Morgan told him, and with Collins they dragged Silver Wolf from his horse's back.

  Ben stood aside and watched in helpless frustration as the sheriff's deputies roughly pushed Silver Wolf ahead of them into the sheriff's office, then shoved him into a cell. Only then did Sheriff Dixon remove the gag and untie his hands. The lawman turned to Ben.

  "You can have ten minutes with him and that's all."

  "Thank you." Ben entered the cell and waited until the sheriff had closed and locked the door and left the area before he spoke to Daniel.

  "Should I get the doctor?"

  "I'll be all right," he managed through his swollen lips. His mouth was raw and sore, and he tasted blood.

  "What happened? Where have you been? I've been out looking for you ever since I heard about James."

  "I was camped out by myself for a few nights."

  Ben muttered a curse under his breath. "Did you see anybody? Talk to anybody?"

  "No."

  "What about your medicine bag? How did that end up with James?"

  "I don't know. I must have lost it when I got drunk after the dance, but I have no idea where or when."

  "Did you have it when you were at the saloon with Jenny?"

  "I had it when I went in, but I don't remember if I had it when we left. I might have lost it in my room or when I rode out the next morning."

  "Damn . . ." Ben fell silent as he tried to figure out what to do next.

  "Does it look that bad?" Silver Wolf asked, reading his friend's worried expression accurately.

  "It doesn't look good. You can't prove where you were when James was murdered, and your medicine bag was found with the body." He paused, lost deep in thought as he tried to piece together everything he knew. "I know you didn't kill him, but I want you to tell me who hated you enough to frame you for his murder." His gaze was piercing.

  Silver Wolf gave a hoarse, pained laugh. "Every white man in this town hates me. There isn't a one of them who wouldn't like to see me dead."

  "Not every white man," Ben corrected him in a low voice as he moved to put a hand upon his shoulder. "What about James? How many enemies did James have? Who wanted him dead? And why?"

  "I don't know . . ."

  "Think, Daniel!" he commanded. "Your life's at stake! Who hated James so much that they'd kill him? Who had the most to gain?"

  "The Larsons, I guess. With James out of the way and Elizabeth inheriting the ranch, there would be no one left to stand up to them and fight their hatred of the Cheyenne."

  Ben met Daniel's gaze as he prepared to give him the news he'd yet to hear. "Elizabeth only inherited half of the Circle M."

  "Then Little Snow got the other half," he finished for him.

  "No."

  "No?" Silver Wolf looked at him puzzled. "Who got the other half?"

  "You did. James left it to you."

  He stared at Ben. "I don't believe it."

  "It's true. He wanted to thank you for saving Cari's life, and he thought that would be the best way."

  Silver Wolf stood up and turned his back on Ben for a minute as he tried to deal with his turbulent emotions. "I didn't know," he said in a choked voice.

  "He wanted it that way."

  "He was a good man. I wish he were alive right now."

  "So do I," Ben said heavily. "We can't bring him back, but we can sure as hell find the ones who killed him."

  "Start with the Larsons . . ." he told him, suddenly intent on making the ones really responsible for his friend's murder pay. "They hated the fact that James was my grandfather's friend. They were the ones stirring up the trouble over the rustling, too. Maybe there's something there."

  "I'll do it. Did you know the bull was stolen?"

  "No."

  "They think James must have caught the rus
tlers stealing him, and it cost him his life."

  "If they haven't found the bull, he may still be alive. Get word to my grandfather. If the animal's still in the territory, my people can find him."

  "I've already been out to the village. I went there looking for you as soon as I heard about James. Tall Shadow said they'd search."

  "Thanks, Ben."

  "There's no need to thank me."

  "Yes, there is." He looked him straight in the eye. "You believe in me."

  The fear and uncertainty both men were feeling went unspoken as they regarded each other solemnly before the sheriff broke their gaze.

  "Your time's up!" Sheriff Dixon announced.

  Ben gave Daniel one last hopefully reassuring look before he started from the cell.

  Determined to prove his friend's innocence, Ben went straight to the Sundown Saloon to speak to Jenny. He didn't know if she'd be any help in finding out what happened to the medicine bag, but at least it was a starting point. To his surprise, the bartender told him Jenny was gone and that he didn't know when or if she'd be back. Ben asked several of the other girls if they had any idea of where he could find her, but none of them did. He'd been worried on his way over to the saloon, and he was even more troubled when he left.

  Sixteen

  A few hours later Cari sat on the bank of the stream watching the water rush by. Everything seemed so simple for the stream. It had a beginning and an end, and while sometimes its course didn't flow in a straight line, at least it knew which direction it was going.

  Cari looked up at the sky, wishing her life was as simple as the stream's. It seemed her very existence was in ruins, as if a vast and devastating flood had swept through her life and had scoured away all vestiges of happiness. Nothing was left, and there was no escape from the torment. Her father was dead. They believed Silver Wolf killed him . . .

  Tears traced down her pale cheeks, but she didn't bother to wipe them away. Since the moment she'd seen Silver Wolf, beaten and bound in the posse's custody, her heart and mind had been waging a terrible battle. Bewildered, turmoil churning in her soul, she struggled to understand the war within. The law said there was proof that Silver Wolf had murdered her father. Her heart argued that he could never have hurt her father and that it was all some terrible mistake.